Global Efficient Cookstove Project

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Transcript of Global Efficient Cookstove Project

The Global Efficient Cookstove Education Project By: Olivia Gracey Stoves Global Collaborations Energy Use Personal vs. Tanzanian Energy Use Skype Conversations with Students in Tanzania How Stoves Work Worldwide Issue Biomass Women at Risk Energy Resources Women and children do the majority of the cooking.They are the ones inhaling the smoke all day and who are more susceptible to respiratory illnesses and other health problems. Inefficient cookstoves are a worldwide issue. About 3 billion people, almost half the world's population, rely on open fires or stoves burning biomass and coal to cook and heat their homes. Biomass: organic matter used as fuelex) wood Tanzania vs. United States Everyday, I use a gas stove that runs on propane to cook my food. It is a very efficient cookstove: very little to no smoke is emitted and it cooks things quickly.

In Tanzania, the kids do not use propane for their stoves, biomass is their fuel. Wood is collected and burned in their cookstoves, resulting in a lot of smoke and health problems, as well as environmental problems. Energy: the strength needed for continued physical or mental activityEnergy Units: Joule, Calorie, British Thermal Unit, Kilowatt-hourTypes of energy: stored energy-Potential energy-Electrical, Nuclear, Elastic, Gravitational, Chemical-Kinetic energy: moving energy-Heat, Electromagnetic, Mechanical, Electrical, Mechanical wave The Science of Energy Renewable v. Non-Renewable

-Renewable: water, wind, sun, geothermal, biomass

-Non-Renewable: oil, coal, natural gas, nuclear Renewable Resources:-never run out-more expensive-can be found practically everywhere Non-Renewable Resources:-running out-cheaper-only found in certainparts of the world-harder to obtain The students at Brookwood school have been collaborating with schools around the world to make the problem of inefficient stoves more known. We are working with schools in Uganda, Tanzania, Brazil, India, and Rwanda to educate ourselves and the people around us about efficient stoves. We are trying to educate ourselves and others on how to build an efficient stove and to bring awareness to a worldwide problem that is not well known. Energy Energy Use Combustion: the burning of something-products of complete combustion are CO2 and H2Oequation:C3H8+5O2 3CO2+4H2O-incomplete combustion produces CO, which is very dangerousequation:2C3H8+7O2 6CO+8H2O Efficient: wasting as little fuel as possibleex) an efficient stove won't burn as much wood CO and poisoning: Carbon monoxide can be inhaled and absorbed by the blood. CO keeps the blood from carrying oxygen to the cells Respiratory Illnesses: burning wood releases particulate matter (tiny particles of unburnt carbon) into the air. This can cause lung cancer, pneumonia, and other lung related illnesses. Since most women do the cooking with these inefficient wood burning stoves, they are the ones contracting the lung and other health problems. CO2 and Global Warming:burning fuels releases CO2, which traps heat inside the atmosphere and raises the overall temperature of the earth The average national energy use per person in the United States is 87,216 kWh. The average Tanzanian energy use per person is 46 kWh. Flame:-made mostly of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen-when atoms rearrange they have lots of energy so the put out heat-if there isn't enough oxygen, carbon atoms create soot and particulate matter-the yellow flame is a result of the black wick getting hot and glowingincandescence: when the soot particles glowpyrolysis: when fuel turns into a gaschemiluminescence: when atoms create light when rearrangedoxidation: when oxygen atoms combine with other atoms Harmful Effects and Dangers of Biomass Use:Using biomass can cause serious health issues. Approximately 2 million people die each year as a result of respiratory diseases, which can be caused by inefficient cookstoves. If you think this issue doesn't affect you or isn't "close to home", it is. Even in the small community of Brookwood School, more than 10 teachers have experienced the effects of inefficient cookstoves firsthand. Many women are forced to travel many miles each day to collect the wood needed for the fires. These daily treks put women at physical risk, such as being raped, and other dangers. Justa Stove 16 Brick Stove 5 Can Stove 360˚ visual of the 16 brick stove Health -an efficient cookstove-made of bricks-insulated, often with wood or ash-there is a flat metal surface on which you cook placed over the stove-wood goes in a small hole at the front of the stove -the smoke from the fire is guided out through a pipe -the stove is built from 16 bricks-15 for the stove structure-1 used to rest the ends of the wood on-paper is placed at the bottom of the stove-sticks are placed on top of the paper-the paper is lit, and the wood catches fire-the kettle rests on top of the bricks, above the flame-fan the fire frequently to put more oxygen on the fire, making it more effective 16 Brick Stove in the testing process. Front view of the 16 Brick Stove. 16 Brick Stove in action! Justa Stove at work. Student cuts a hole for a can to fit inside. 5 Can Stove in the process of being built. 5 Can Stove fully insulated and ready for testing. -made of 5 cans-paper is placed at the bottom of the big can-wood goes in through the small can and rests on top of paper-light paper, wood catches fire-kettle sits on top of big can directly above fire-fan fire frequently to help the flow of oxygen and make the fire better and more efficient Stove Testing Results The average 16 Brick Stove took 9 minutes and 2 seconds to boil a kettle of water and used 220.4 grams of wood. 16 Brick Stove: 5 Can Stove: The average 5 Can Stove took 4 minutes and 44 seconds to boil a kettle of water and used 126 grams of wood. General Stove Information If you would like to learn about our eighth grade studies on energy, energy use, and energy resources, please continue reading. An efficient cookstove is one that uses as little fuel as possible In order for a cookstove to be efficient it must:-have enough room for oxygen to enter the combustion chamber-be insulated-have a chimney so the smoke can be burned-be able to produce a "medium sized" fire: one that big enough to heat a kettle of water, but not so big that it burns up all of the wood We have spent many weeks building, testing, and researching different types of cookstoves, what fuels they use, and harmful effects of these inefficient stoves. Brookwood eighth grade students are connected to schools within five countries around the world: Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Brazil, and India. We have been working with these countries to further our learning about efficient cookstoves. My partner country is Tanzania. We have been collaborating with and talking to people from The Magoma Project in Tanzania. Graph courtesy of the United States Environmental Protection Agency The majority of the United States uses fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, oil) for fuel, and a very small percentage of the population uses biomass for fuel, which is very different from Tanzania. In Tanzania, virtually everyone uses biomass for fuel and a very small amount of people use oil, and no one uses coal. The fuel used in Tanzania and the United States is practically opposite. To see Brookwood students introduce themselves to Tanzanian students go to 3:44To hear teachers in Tanzania talk about the language Swahili go to 8:00 To find out how long the Tanzanian students' school day is go to 7:19To learn how they travel to school and how long it takes go to 10:00To find out what learning tools they use at their school go to 11:00To learn about the students go to 12:12To learn about electricity in Tanzania go to 14:00To see Brookwood students explaining the stove project go to 17:44To see the 5 Can Stove go to 18:00To see the explanation of how the students collect fallen wood go to 22:00To learn what stoves are used most everywhere in Tanzania go to 26:00To learn about the stoves in people's houses go to 27:00To learn about what the mother's roles are with stoves look at 27:00-28:00 Graph courtesy of the Tanzania Domestic Biogas Programme We have been talking to each other about the differences in fuel, stoves, and energy use between Tanzania and the United States, among other things. These numbers courtesy of the "world energy consumption" wikipedia page. The 5 Can Stove was the most efficient stove. It burned the least amount of wood in the least amount of wood. The long chimney made it easy for the unburned carbon, smoke, to be burned and used as fuel. The Magoma Project The Magoma Project is working to improve the health of children and adults in their area. They are trying to find a more efficient stove to make cooking easier and improve people's health. They are building and testing stoves like the students here at Brookwood. If you would like to learn more about efficient cookstoves and the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, click here:http://www.cleancookstoves.org/blog/Julia-roberts-video.html My house uses electricity from a power plant to power all of the lights and machines in the house. It uses a lot of energy to do this.

In Tanzania, electricity is used, but not to the degree at which I use it everyday. Take Aways Before we started this project, I had no idea that inefficient cookstoves were such a large problem worldwide.

It took a while to set up a conversation with the students in Tanzania because they did not have immediate access to a computer, but it was all worth it. I had never had a conversation with someone in another country before. The things we learned from this conversation were so fascinating, and being able to have this experience was incredible.

This project was not just another school project assigned and produced for a good grade, and I soon realized that. With this stove project, I could help people even by just raising awareness about this problem, but if this were to get recognition from someone who wanted to get involved, it would be able to help those women and children in the world who are facing major problems because of inefficient cookstoves. The health issues and dangers that come with the responsibility of cooking for their families could be lessened tremendously. Without this project, I would never have discovered this. What Can You Do To Help? -raise awareness about the problem of inefficient cookstoves-raise awareness about our project and what we are trying to do-get people interested in this project